Shrouded in Shadows
by dleghost
Summary: Sequel to Erin T. Aardvark's fanfic "Shadow of a Doubt." I have permission to write this so it's cool.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is a sequel to Erin T. Aardvark's fanfic "Shadow of a Doubt." I have permission to write this story and burrow some of Erin's characters for this as well. All the characters (except the dudes in the hoods, they're mine) belong to Erin T. Aardvark.

Ch. 1

At the farthest region of the seas, there was a small, remote island where a super maximum security prison took place and used to keep the most infamous criminals locked up behind iron doors. Among the inmates of the prison, there was a man sitting in the shadows of his cell and glaring into nothingness as if he was under a trance. The shadowy figure had been in that position ever since he was first brought to the facility and hadn't moved from the spot since then. The criminal was formally known as The Shadow.

It's been a year since he was captured by the SSHQ for his crimes, including the kidnapping of Big D's grandson, Fluey, who he kept captive just so he can make the chief suffer from grief. Oh, how he enjoyed every minute of it, though he wished he could see the look of Big D's face as he was slowly falling apart for not knowing if he'll ever see his grandson again. The Shadow's vengeance, however, hadn't been fully accomplished when Big D and the other two Impossibles found his hideout and rescued the black-haired teen from his merciless grasp. Now the Shadow had to spend the rest of his life rotting inside the cell while planning how he will take his vengeance on Big D and the rest of SSHQ. He wanted them all to suffer in worst ways no one can imagine, but the Shadow may never have that chance as long as he's locked up with no way of escape from his prison.

The Shadow's trail of thought was suddenly interrupted when he heard a commotion from outside his cell. His eyes turned to the door as he heard the guards shouting, gunshots and some explosions setting off in the halls. Then, the screams burst out along with sounds that seem to be of bodies falling to the floor and blood splattering against the walls until the noises slowly fade into silence. The Shadow was about to get off his bench when the door suddenly flew open and two hooded figures entered the cell. One was a foot taller than the Shadow and the other one was just a few inches shorter than him.

"The Shadow, I presumed," said a scouse accented voice coming from the averaged sized figure.

"And you are?" asked the Shadow.

"Your friends. Now come with us unless you want to rot here."

The Shadow followed the hooded strangers as they walked out of the cell and through the halls. The Shadow was shocked yet amazed as he looked around to see the carnage left by the strangers. Neither guard nor inmate was spared by these soulless villains. The Shadow figured that they didn't want to leave behind any witnesses. When the three fiends arrived at the large gate, the shorter stranger raised his hand and the gate suddenly burst open as he and the others walked out to the moonlit night.

When the trio reached the dock, a cruise ship was waiting for them and they climbed aboard. The cruise ship, then started sailing through the ocean as the Shadow looked out at the sea and the two hooded villains stood behind him.

"Now that you freed me, I suppose you want something in return," said the Shadow, without looking over his shoulder.

"We're not expecting any favors. We haven't even finished helping you yet," said the shorter hooded figure while his tall companion silently stood beside him.

"What are you talking about?"

"You want revenge on SSHQ, including Big D and the Impossibles."

"How did you know that?"

"I'm telepathic. I can read people's minds like open journals begging to have their secrets revealed."

"Really? So how are you Brits suppose to help me? I doubt you have a large collection of arsenal and some lackeys for me to use," the Shadow turned facing the hooded stranger.

"Once I give you this, you won't be needing them," said the hooded stranger as he held up a crystal ball that's glowing an eerie purple light in his green gloved hand.

"What is that?" the Shadow gazed down at the crystal ball.

"This crystal ball was once belonged to the most powerful warlock Maldour. Not long ago, Maldour kidnapped the chief's cheeky grandson and absorbed his darkest fears to gain power by using this crystal ball. Somehow, the Impossibles managed to defeat Maldour and took his crystal ball to be locked up in the stronghold of SSHQ. My associate and I retrieved it from their quarters just hours before we came for you."

"So how can this thing help me?"

"At first, the crystal ball does nothing. The force inside it, however, is very unstable. If the ball ever breaks, the lad's fears will manifest and bring havoc upon the whole world. But, when it's molded and crafted by the incantations of a well experienced sorcerer, such as myself, it can give great power to anyone who absorbs the forces within. Once it is held in your bare hands, all that power will be yours."

"You expect me to believe that absorbing the fears of that brat will give me super powers? Why should I believe everything that you said?"

"What I say is true and I can assure you that the force inside this ball can make it happen. With this power, you'll become the true manifestation of darkness and possess new abilities to slay your enemies in ways you can never imagine," said the hooded stranger as he leaned closer to the Shadow. "What will it be, Mister? Deny this offer and start bumbling your way to get your revenge that will eventually end in a disaster or take the chance and devastate the SSHQ once and for all."

As the Shadow was about to reach for the glowing orb, he stopped for a minute and suspiciously glared at the hooded sorcerer.

"If you're wondering about the price that comes with this offer, the only thing you'll lose is your humanity. Or what's left of it, anyway."

The Shadow didn't reply and looked at the crystal ball once more. The man cautiously grabbed the crystal ball from the stranger's hand and held it as he stared at the light which seemed to be glowing even brighter. Suddenly, all the light shot out of the crystal ball and struck the Shadow like a lightning bolt. The Shadow screamed in pain as the lightning flashed all over him, he fell on his knees and his eyes grew wider. Then, his entire body was becoming engulfed by a substance that looked like black ink and he finally collapsed.

The Shadow's hands released the empty ball and it rolled over towards the hooded villain's feet. The strangers looked down at the figure that now resembled a black silhouette printed on the wooden floor. Suddenly, the silhouetted arms, legs and head slowly retracted into the torso, it started to swirl around like a black whirlpool and rose up like a dark ghost as it flew away into the night.

The two strangers watched ahead as the Shadow blended himself into the black sky and flew at the direction to Megatropolis. The hooded stranger picked up the empty crystal ball and tucked it inside his cloak.

"Now the fun can finally begin."


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Meanwhile on the sunny afternoon at Megatropolis, three teenage boys and a small puppy following them were walking down the sidewalk while looking at the window displays of the stores they passed. The three friends, famously known as the rock band the Impossibles, were in their casual attire since they didn't want to bring attention to themselves and wanted to relax for awhile, especially for this special day that involved with a certain black-haired teenager.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. I gotta split and head home," Fluey replied.

"You're tired already?" asked Multi, after sipping his drink from a straw.

"Are you kidding, man? We've been cruising and walking around town for two hours now. I'm exhausted."

"Are you sure you want to go home?"

"Yeah. I mean, there's so many things left to do and we hardly have opportunities like this to enjoy ourselves without crazed fans chasing us around and stuff," said Coiley.

"Well, that is true. But, I'm really tired and I want to go back," Fluey replied.

"But, it's your birthday. You should take this time to do whatever you want to do until- oh I don't know- five o' clock." Multi nudged Coiley's arm with his elbow.

"Oww."

"Alright, you guys. What are you fellas up to?" asked Fluey, glaring at his friends and folding his arms.

"Um. What do you mean?" asked Coiley, nervously.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Multi replied as his puppy Skittles shrugged at Fluey. The black haired teen just stared suspiciously at his friends and continued walking down the street.

"You think he's on to us, Mark?" Coiley whispered.

"Probably, but let's just hold him off a bit longer. Big D, Phyllis and the whole gang worked hard on the surprised party and we can't let Franky know about this, yet," said Multi.

"Got it. Hey! Franky! Wait up!" Coiley, Multi and Skittles then started running as they tried to catch up with their friend.

Fluey was too far away to hear his friends as he continued walking pass a dark alleyway when he noticed a figure at the corner of his eye. Fluey quickly turned his head at the alleyway and saw nothing. The boy was both startled and confused as he stood in front of the dark entrance of the alley.

"It's about time you stopped!" said Coiley when he and the others caught up with him.

"Come on. I heard there's a new record store for us check out, Fr-. Franky?" Multi then noticed that Fluey was ignoring him as he still stared into space. The red head waved his hand in front of Fluey's face, but got no response. Skittles was also aware of Fluey's odd behavior so she went towards his leg gave it a slight bite.

"Ow! What's the big idea, man?" Fluey finally responded as he grabbed on his wounded leg.

"Skittles didn't mean to hurt you. She's just trying to snap you out of it," Multi replied, picking the puppy up in his arms.

"Yeah. You just stood there and stared at that alleyway. What were you looking at?" asked Coiley.

Fluey paused for a minute to think what he just saw and said, "I thought I saw someone, but it turned out to be nothing."

"Oh. Well anyway, we need to get back to the Impossi-mobile. We got a lot of things to do."

Once the boys arrived at the spot where they parked the Impossi-mobile, they suddenly heard a beeping sound coming out of the trunk.

"So much for our day off," said Coiley as he opened the trunk and picked up his guitar which the small screen attached to the handle automatically turned on.

"We received some reports that someone is attacking the power plant just a mile away north from where you boys are. I need you Impossibles to go over there and stop that criminal," said Big D, who just appeared in the small screen.

"Yes, sir!" the boys replied in unison. The singing Impossibles then activated their transformers to become the crime fighting Impossibles. Skittles jumped out of Multi's arm as she barked three times and transformed into Impossi-pup.

"Rally Ho!" the boys cried out as they climbed into the Impossi-mobile and drove off to the power plant.

Once the Impossibles arrived at the power plant, they gasped at the sight of destruction that the attacker left behind.

"Geez, man! Was the chief sure that some guy did this? Because the place looks more like it was hit by a tornado," said Fluey.

"Well, Big D did say that the power plant was attacked by someone," Coiley replied.

"Either way, we got to watch our steps. The attacker could still be here so we better not make any noises," said Multi.

The others agreed and quietly went towards the entrance. As the Impossibles went closer, Impossi-pup started whimpering and shaking.

"What's wrong with Skittles?" asked Coiley.

"I don't know. I never saw her act like this before. Skittles was never afraid when we're on missions," Multi replied, when he picked up his frightened puppy.

"Definitely not a good sign," said Fluey.

"Let's keep going, fellas. We got a mission to do," said Coiley as he and the others went inside the building.

Inside the power plant, the area was poorly lit and littered with broken pieces of metal and pipes. The numerous shadows and ominous atmosphere has made the building look like a haunted ruin. As the Impossibles walked through the large, dimly lit hallway, the little puppy whimpered and shook more intensely in Multi's arms. The boys then arrived at the stairs that lead to an even darker hall.

"Everything seems too quiet here," said Multi, still holding the squirming Impossi-pup tightly.

"Not if you count, Skittles' whimpering. She's getting more nervous than ever," Coiley replied.

"I'm getting a really bad feeling about this, guys," said Fluey.

"I'm with Fluey. Something doesn't seem right here," said Multi.

The Impossibles then heard some foot steps coming from the top floor as they looked up at the stairs. The young heroes braced themselves and waited anxiously when they heard the steps getting closer and closer. Multi and Coiley gasped while Fluey's eyes widened and inhaled deeply in shock when he and the others saw the Shadow emerged from the darkness above.

"No," the boy finally exhaled.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. 3

Impossi-pup jumped out of Mulit's arms and hid behind him. The Impossibles froze in shock as they kept looking up at the dark figure standing atop the stairs, hoping that it's all an illusion and the vile villain would disappear. Unfortunately, their hopes were shattered the moment when the Shadow finally spoke.

"Long time, no see, boys. Almost seemed ages since we last met."

"How is this possible?" asked Multi

"You were locked up in a maximum security prison. There's no way you can break out of there!" said Coiley.

"True, but it turns out I actually had friends from high places to help me out of that stink-hole. Now that I'm free from the accursed cell, I can finally have the chance to get my revenge," said the Shadow as he cracked his knuckles.

"You still don't have a chance against the four of us!" Multi shouted.

"Is that so? Well it might be the little one's birthday, but I have a surprise for all of you." The Shadow's eyes suddenly glowed red and stretched out his arms as his talon like hands charged towards the Impossibles. Fluey was too overwhelmed with fear as he watched the hands coming towards him, but Skittles knocked him out of the way as the hands missed their targets.

"Rally ho!" Coiley cried out as he bounced up and aimed towards the Shadow. A whip like tendril appeared out of the Shadow's back, swatted the short blond and smashed him against a wall.

"Rally ho!" Multi exclaimed, duplicating himself and tossed their shields towards the dark entity. The shadowy villain transformed himself into a large, black curtain as the shields disappeared into the abyss. The foe returned to his human form as he raised his arms wide and the shields flew back out as they aimed towards the Multi men. One by one, the shields took out all the copies and left the original standing. The last shield was about to hit Multi, but he quickly leaned himself back as he watched the shield fly passed over him.

The red head suddenly fell on his back when he felt something pulled him by his leg, he looked up and saw the Shadow pulling the boy towards him with one of his tendrils. Multi attempted to crawl away from the monster, but the Shadow pulled harder as he dragged the young hero closer to him. Fluey and Coiley rushed over to grab Multi by the arms as they tried to free him, but more tendrils appeared and grabbed the other two. As the tendrils were about to pull the boys towards the Shadow, Skittles charged in incredible speed and bit the Shadow in the arm. The villain let out a monstrous scream as his tendrils released the Impossibles.

"You'll be the first to go, you mangy runt!" the Shadow hissed as the tendrils wrapped themselves all around Impossi-pup. They pulled the puppy into the Shadow's form as she whimpered and yelped, trying to free herself. Then, the yelping stopped when Skittles sank into the darkness.

"Skittles! No!" Multi cried out as he tried to go after his dog, but was held back by his teammates.

"There's nothing we can do for her now!" Coiley shouted.

"He's right! Let's split while we still can!" Fluey replied.

Multi hesitated for a second, but he then agreed and followed as he and the others retreated. Watching the Impossibles running off, the Shadow turned into a black puddle and disappeared into the shadows.

"What do we do now?" asked Fluey as he and the others ran towards the exit.

"We need to call Big D! We could really use his help on this one!" said Multi.

"I'm on it!" Fluey then reached for his wrist communicator, but was grabbed by a giant, black hand that dropped from the ceiling.

"Fluey!" the others exclaimed as they watched the hand transformed into a dark phantom and flew back through the ceiling, taking the black haired boy with him.

Outside the building, dark clouds were starting to form as the black figure emerged from the top of the roof as the boy was pushed out of his form. Fluey got on his knees and watched the phantom changed back into the Shadow. The Shadow was holding Fluey's communicator in his hand and crushed it into small pieces as they fell out of his palm.

"Hello, birthday boy," said the Shadow as his red eyes glowed brighter than before. The Shadow suddenly transformed into what appears to be a silhouette of Medusa-like creature holding a dagger in her hand.

"It can't be-" Fluey was interrupted when the creature was about to strike him with her long, sharp nails. Fluey moved out of the way, but the nails managed to leave a tear on his wet suit that left his chest exposed, showing the burned scar he received from the Shadow's branding iron awhile back.

"Look familiar? This is Sandrina's twisted form from your nightmares when you were under Maldour's spell," said the Shadow and transformed into another silhouette, but this time it was a form of Antonio Manikatti.

"Not only did I received new powers, but I learned a few things about you as well, little one. Or should I say, little Tony?" said the Shadow and punched Fluey across the face.

After being knocked down to the ground, Fluey moaned and slowly rose up as a small trail of blood poured out the edge of his mouth. The boy looked up to see the Manikatti silhouette transformed back into the Shadow's original form.

" I learned so many things about you. I know that your birth resulted from an affair between Dawson's womanizing, loose cannon of a son and some underage twit," said the Shadow as he struck Fluey's face with his claws. The slashing of the claws caused Fluey's goggles to be ripped off of his face. Even though the goggles saved him from severe damage, Fluey still received some scratches from that attack as he held his left cheek and hissed in pain.

"I know that your adopted parents went over Dead Man's Curve and met their untimely deaths because some little brat wouldn't stop whining about wanting to go hom-"

"Shut up!" Fluey snapped as he converted himself into liquid and shot towards the Shadow. Fluey, however, ended up going through the Shadow and splashed on the ground as he converted back to his solid form. Suddenly, four tendrils tied themselves around Fluey and lifted him up a few feet from the ground.

"You were lucky when you first got away from me, but not this time. Even with your powers, you're still no match against me and you certainly can't get away from me. You'll always belong to me and you have the scar to prove it." The Shadow's tendrils tighten their grip even harder as Fluey began suffocating from their strong hold. The boy didn't even have the strength to convert himself into liquid and slip out of the tendrils.

"Now all is left is for me to do is to figure out how I should kill you," the Shadow gestured. "Perhaps, I can decapitate you and deliver your head to Dawson in a nice, little package or literally rip you apart and leave your remains by his footstep. Decisions, decisions."

Suddenly, the Shadow was hit from behind as Multi smacked his head with his shield, the tendrils lost their grip and dropped Fluey to the ground. Fluey coughed and gasped for air as Coiley went up to him and helped him up on his feet.

"You're okay, Fluey?" asked Multi as he went up to the others.

"Well, I'm still alive," Fluey replied.

"Then, we better get out of here before the Shadow comes around."

"No need to tell me twice."

"Hang on, guys!" said Coiley as he grabbed his friends and bounced off the roof. When Coiley landed on the ground, he started bouncing towards the Impossi-mobile and the Impossibles quickly climbed inside it. Multi started the engine as he took the wheel and raced off. As the Impossi-mobile drove farther from the power plant, Multi looked at the rearview mirror and noticed a black, phantom-like figure flying after them.

"Shrieking banshees! He's catching up to us!"

The Shadow stretched out his arms as he tried to grab the Impossi-mobile while the car continuously dodged his monstrous hands. The dark entity's eyes glowed darker red as he stretched out his arms once more and grabbed the car by its trunk. Multi tried to make the car go faster, but the Shadow kept hauling the car towards him with his sharp claws still clenched to the trunk.

"What do we do now?" Fluey shouted.

"I'm out of ideas, Fluey! I don't know what to do!" Multi replied.

"Well, I do," Coiley sighed as he stood on top of the seat.

"Coiley? What are you doing?" asked Fluey.

Coiley took a deep breath and turned around facing the Shadow's direction, "It's been nice knowing you, guys." Coiley gave his friends the salute, then jumped towards the Shadow and tackled him to the ground which caused him to released the Impossi-mobile.

"Go!" Coiley exclaimed as the Shadow grabbed him by the arms.

Multi stepped on the gas and quickly drove off, leaving his teammate behind at the clutches of the inhuman foe. Neither he or Fluey dared to look back to see what became of their fallen friend. Fluey just sat there with a blank stare on his face realizing that his friend has met his fate.

"We left him. I can't believe we really left him there. Now he's gone just like Skittles," said Fluey with fear and pain heard in his voice.

"I know, but Coiley sacrificed himself for us, Fluey. We can't let it go to waste," Multi replied, rubbing one of his eyes.

As the Impossi-mobile continued driving down the road, the two heroes felt a few drops falling on them and looked up at the gray sky as the rain began to pour down. Since the Impossi-mobile didn't have a roof, the teenage boys were getting soaked in the rainfall.

"Well, that's just great. This day just keeps getting better," said Fluey, sarcastically as he folded his arms and slouched.

Suddenly, the Impossi-mobile stopped as it got stuck in what seemed to be a giant puddle.

"What the heck?" Multi replied as he looked down and noticed that the puddle they fell into was ink black. Then, dozens of black tendrils shot out of the puddle and surrounded the Impossi-mobile.

"Hold on tight, Fluey!" said Multi, grabbing Fluey by the waist and duplicating himself to get away from the tendrils.

While the tendrils were snatching the copies and dragging them into the dark puddle, Multi and Fluey managed to jump on top of the roof, they looked down and saw the Impossi-mobile sank into the watery darkness as well.

"Come on!" Multi exclaimed as he and Fluey started running across the roof. Just as they were about to jump over to the other roof, large hands grabbed snatched them and dragged them down. Dangling just five feet from the ground, the two heroes looked down to see the Shadow, staring back at them with his demonic red eyes.

"Still think you can get away from me? I hate to break it to you, but no matter how far you go or where you hide, I'll always find you," said the Shadow.

"You're never gonna win, Shadow!" Multi shouted.

"Stupid, boy. Isn't it obvious to see that I already won. Coilman and the dog are gone and the only ones left standing between me and SSHQ are you two."

The large hand that was holding Fluey suddenly released him, but he didn't make it to the ground when more tendrils came out of the Shadow and grabbed the boy by his wrists. "I can't destroy Dawson physically without breaking him first. That's why I'm going to kill the boy and personally deliver his corpse to his grandfather so I can see the look on his face when he becomes overwhelmed with despair. And that's when I'll kill him and end his misery."

A flash of lightning appeared which caused the Shadow to cover his eyes and lose his grip on his captives as the young heroes were dropped to the ground. The Shadow hissed in pain as he fell on his knees. Multi grabbed Fluey by the arm and they quickly ran off to the alleyway. There was a wooden fence ahead of them, they quickly climbed over it and went around the corner where they came upon a parked, moving truck with its back doors opened.

"Multi, we can't keep running like this," said Fluey, trying to catch his breath.

"I know. We just need to find a place to hide and figure a way to defeat the Shadow," said Multi.

Suddenly, the pair of hands covered the boys' mouths as they were being dragged inside the truck and its back doors mysteriously closed themselves shut.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch. 4

Meanwhile at Big D's house, the girls were busy setting up the decorations at the lobby while Phyllis was bringing the birthday cake she made from the kitchen and placed it on the table.

"Hey, does anybody have the time?" asked Shawn.

"It's 4:30 p.m." Danalleah replied.

"Great. We have half an hour left and we're not even finished, yet," said FG, putting the paper plates next to the cake.

"Relax. The chief sent the boys on a mission and it'll buy us some more time to finish up," Phyllis replied.

The girls gasped when they heard the front door open, fearing that Fluey came home early, but it turned to be the chief who came home from SSHQ.

"Jeez, chief. You nearly gave us a heart attack," said Shawn, after exhaling in relief.

"My apologies. I don't expect Fluid and the others coming home anytime soon," Big D replied.

"What do you mean, chief?" asked Danlleah.

"The boys usually call me whenever they finish a mission so it's obvious to see that they haven't complete their task, yet."

Big D's wrist communicator suddenly went off, he walked out of the room and quickly answered it.

"Yes? What is it, Agent Swift? What? Are you serious? No live witnesses? Call all the agents to be in high alert! I want him back behind bars as soon as possible!." Sweat began to form on the chief's forehead as he turned his communicator off and went back to the lobby.

"What's wrong, chief?" asked Phyllis.

"An agent I sent to check on the maximum security prison reported me that the Shadow has escaped." The girls gasped in shock.

"That's impossible! Even Houdini couldn't break out of that prison," said Shawn.

Suddenly, the phone began ringing, the chief quickly picked it up and answered the call, "Hello?"

"Have you seen the news today?"

"Excuse me?"

"Have you seen the news today?"

"Who is this?" Big D was about to say something, but the phone hung up.

The chief put the receiver down, went up to the television and turned it on as he turned one of the knob.

"Who was it, chief? Was it the Shadow?" asked Phyllis.

"No. The last time I checked, the Shadow didn't have an accent. Now everybody quiet, the caller mentioned about watching the news. It might be important,"

"This is Chad Channing, reporting live at the destroyed power plant where resources say that all the workers were killed by what referred to as the shadow monster. We also received reports that the shadow-like creature was seen flying across town while fighting against the Impossibles. We have a witness here to tell us what he just saw."

"I was coming out of the store and I saw the Impossibles driving by with some weird monster chasing after them. It's like a living shadow, man," said the beatnik in the big sunglasses.

"Can you tell us what the creature looks like?"

"I actually drew a picture of the thing to show you, if you don't mind." And the beatnik showed his drawing of a black figure that looked like a man in a hat with red eyes.

The chief froze in shock when he recognized the figure on the picture. The girls gasped when they saw the horrifying picture.

"What the heck is that?" asked FG.

"The Shadow," the chief replied.

"What? Are you sure?" asked Shawn.

"Positive."

"But, since when did the Shadow turned into a monster?" asked Phyllis.

"He's always been a monster, only now he has superpowers." The chief activated his communicator as he tried to contact the Impossibles.

"Big D calling the Impossibles. Do you read me? Agents Fluidman, Multiman and Coilman, do you read me?" The chief received nothing, but static and he pounded his fist on the wall.

"I was afraid of this. Phyllis, I need you and FG to come with me to SSHQ while the rest stay here, in case the boys come back." Big D, FG and Phyllis rushed out of the house and climbed into Phyllis's car as they went off to SSHQ.

"I hope Fluey and the others are okay," said Danalleah as she sat on the couch. "The Shadow is now more powerful and he probably will-Oh I don't want to even think about it!"

"Don't worry, Danalleah. The boys have been through worse situations than this. They'll make it back in one piece," said Shawn, sitting next to Danalleah. "I hope."


	5. Chapter 5

_Ch. 5_

"_Fluey?"_

"_Fluey, wake up."_

_His eyes slowly opened as his vision became blurry at first, but it suddenly became clear and focused when he found himself laying on the dusty, wooden floor with Multi sitting beside him. Fluey slowly sat up and groaned in pain as he wiped the dust off himself._

"_Man. Some birthday this turned out to be. What happened?"_

"_Your guess is as good as mine. Last thing I remember is that we've been dragged inside a van," said Multi, getting up on his feet. _

"_So, where do you think we are now?"_

_Multi noticed the dirty window by the wall, he went up to it as he wiped the dust off the glass and looked outside which was still raining. There were also some regular houses and a park that's a few blocks away._

"_Looks like we're in some neighborhood right at the edge of town."_

"_How the heck did we end up from downtown to here that fast?" asked Fluey as he also got up and looked around the room. The room was small and its old, peeling wallpaper was fading green with sheep designed on them which seemed that the room once belonged to a child._

"_I don't know, but whoever brought us here were probably trying to help us."_

"_What makes you so sure?"_

"_If they meant to kidnap us, why would they leave the door open and us unbound?" Multi gestured at the opened door._

"_Maybe, but we still better stay on our toes." Fluey walked out of the room, looked around the hall and noticed the ridge close by as he realized that he and Multi were on the second floor._

"_Looks like this house has been abandoned for a very long time," Multi responded, following Fluey._

"_You can say that again, man. But, something about this place is giving me a weird sense of déjà vu," said Fluey as he walked towards the stairway. When the boy was about to walk down the stairs, he suddenly felt something under his foot. Fluey looked down and noticed that he stepped on what seemed to be a photograph, he picked it up and gasped when he took a good look at the picture._

"_Fluey? What is it?" asked Multi as he looked over Fluey's shoulder. There was a couple in the picture where the woman was holding a smiling toddler with black hair._

_Fluey then went back to the room where they woke up in and stared blankly at it._

"_That was me with my adoptive parents." Fluey finally spoke, after Multi followed him to the doorway. "And this used to be my room."_

"_We're in your old house," stated Multi. Fluey nodded as he fell on his knees and tears started to form in his eyes._

"_This is not a coincidence. They knew where I used to live. The Shadow has to be behind this."_

"_If he did bring us here, he would have killed us by now."_

"_Then who brought us here?" Fluey snapped, after he rose up from the floor._

"_The Shadow knows who my biological parents were and he knows how my adoptive parents died. Who else besides him knows about this?" Fluey then punched a dent on the very frail wall, overwhelmed with frustration._

"_Fluey, you got to get a hold of yourself." Multi got up on his feet as well._

"_How can I calm down after everything that just happened? We lost Skittles and Coiley to that maniac. Even if we did get help from SSHQ, it'll just get more people killed, especially the chief!"_

"_You might be right about that. If that's the case, we have to figure out how to take down the Shadow on our own." _

"_How are we going to do that? The Shadow from my nightmares was nothing compared to the new and improved one. Our powers were no match for him and he's gonna keep hunting us down 'till we're dead. Until I'm dead," said Fluey as he placed his hand over the burned scar on his chest. "As long as I have this thing on me, he'll never let me go." _

_Multi then placed a hand on Fluey's shoulder. "Franky, we've been through worse situations before and we're not quitting now. We will get through this. I swear it."_

"_Thanks, Mark." Fluey slightly smiled and wiped the tears from his eyes._

_The two boys suddenly stood still when they heard a creak from down stairs. Multi gestured Fluey by placing his finger to his own lips and pointed at the hallway. Fluey nodded and converted into liquid as he made his way down the stairs. In liquid form, Fluey searched the entire first floor, but found nothing. Fluey went back up stairs and converted back to his solid form._

"_Psst, Multi. The coast is clear, man," Fluey whispered._

"_You're sure?" whispered Multi._

"_Yeah."_

"_Could've sworn I sensed someone was here," Multi replied as he and Fluey walked back down the stairs._

"_Well, the house was pretty old and the creaking was probably caused by the wind."_

"_Perhaps we sh-"_

_The thunder roared as the lightning flashed through the windows causing the two heroes to shield their eyes from the blinding light. After the lightning faded, the boys looked up and were startled to see a tall, hooded figure standing before them. _

_Multi and Fluey were too frozen in shock to even budge as the hooded figure pulled something out of his cloak and held it towards the black haired teen. Fluey gave the stranger a confused look as he took the object from his hand. Fluey then looked at the object and noticed that it was some kind of lightning rod with a glass orb attached on the top and a button on its side._

"_What are we supposed to do with this?" asked Multi._

"_When lightning strikes, make dream into reality," the hooded stranger replied._

"_What?" _

_Fluey closely looked underneath the stranger's hood and noticed that he was wearing shades with purple lenses. "Who are you?"_

_Suddenly, the young superheroes quickly turned their heads when they heard a shattering sound coming from the kitchen. When Multi and Fluey looked back at the stranger, he was already gone._

"_Where did he go?" asked Fluey, still holding on to the lightning rod._

"_Don't know, but it's obvious that he was helping us out," said Multi._

"_Yeah, some help. What kind of mumbo jumbo was he blabbing about?"_

"_That's what I like to figure out." Multi then sat on the last step of the stairs in "The Thinker" pose as he pondered about what the stranger said._

_Suddenly, the boys quickly backed away when the front door burst into various pieces leaving the doorway opened and exposed. Multi got up and held up his shield while Fluey gripped tightly to the lightning rod when their shocked gazes focused on the faceless, yet frightening entity standing outside just a few feet away from his prey. Without the wooden door, there was nothing left standing between the two remaining Impossibles and the Shadow. _


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

As the Shadow was about to step inside the old house, Multi quickly threw his shield at him, aiming for his head The Shadow caught the shield in his hand, but was then tackled by a dozen Multimen and was pinned down to the ground. The Shadow swatted the duplicates with his numerous tentacles and struck them all with his nightmarish claws. While the Shadow was distracted from killing off the Multimen, Fluey and the original Multi immediately ran up the stairs and headed towards another room that had an open window.

Multi was about to step out of the window, until something flew through the bedroom door and slammed against the wall. After leaving an imprint on the wall and falling to the floor, the two teenagers realized to their horror that it was a bloody corpse of one of Multi's duplicates. Suddenly, slow, heavy footsteps were heard from outside the room as the Shadow made his way up the stairs.

"Guess you have to figure out how to work that thing without me."

"What?" Fluey replied.

"I'll slow him down while you make a run for it," said Multi as he stared out at the door

"I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave you, Multi," Fluey replied.

"You don't have a choice," Multi replied, still glaring at the door. "If he takes us right here, it's all over. The Shadow will go after the chief and possibly everyone else from SSHQ. You already know by now that they don't stand a chance against him. But, he won't go after them until he has you. You're our only hope of defeating the Shadow."

"I don't even know how to use this contraption. How can I defeat that psychotic monster on my own?" asked Fluey.

"You've done this before, Fluey."

"That spell Maldour put me on was just a dream. I didn't really defeat the Shadow."

"Dreams can come true, if you tried hard enough."

Fluey just stared at Multi in both awe and confusion as he noticed the sudden change of his behavior. All those years he had known the redhead, Fluey never saw Multi ever being so stern and cryptic.

"Go."

Without hesitation, Fluey converted himself into liquid and gushed out of the window. The green liquid landed on the ground as it slithered away from the abandoned house. The moving, green liquid went up the hill and converted back to a solid Fluidman still holding the lightning rod in his hand. Fluey suddenly heard an explosion from behind, he looked over his shoulder to see his old, childhood home burst into smoke and flames in front of his eyes. Multi has been defeated.

Fluey held on to the lightning rod and started running into the wood area, without having the time to grief. The boy ran as far as he could, knowing that the Shadow was probably on his trail. Fluey tripped on a rock and fell down as the rod fell out of his hand. The lightning rod struck into the ground and stood up straight like a flag pole. Fluey was about to reach for the device until he ducked down when a lightning bolt struck the rod which unleashed a great flash of light. When the bright flash disappeared, Fluey looked up to see the rod's glass orb glowing brightly.

Fluey pulled the rod out of the ground and looked at it with amazement. The lightning was trapped inside the glass orb. Suddenly, the memories of the Shadow's reaction from the flash of the lightning, the riddle from the hooded stranger and the last words Multi said came rushing through Fluey's mind.

"He's vulnerable to bright light," Fluey thought. "But what does this thing and my dream have to do with any of this? Unless-"

Fluey started remembering the time when Maldour put a nightmare spell on him and he had to break it by defeating his inner demons, including his fear of the Shadow. Fluey defeated that Shadow by striking him with a branding iron with the SSHQ initial on it. Fluey then cautiously held the rod up aiming at the sky, he bit his lower lip as he pressed the button. The lightning rod's orb opened itself like a blooming, glass flower and a great beam of blinding light suddenly burst out of it as it soared up to the heavens.

After the beam vanished and the orb closed itself, Fluey stared at the lightning rod with his eyes widen and mouth hung open in shock.

"Far out. Well, it ain't a branding iron, but it'll do."

However, the moment of amazement was cut short when he was hit from behind and was tossed against a tree, which caused the lightning rod to slip out of his hand and fall into the bushes. Fluey groaned in pain as he saw the Shadow standing before him with a long, thick tentacle where his left arm should be.

"This little game of cat and mouse is starting to bore me. If you're not going to fight me, you might as well just stay there and let me finish you off," the Shadow then threw his tentacle towards Fluey, but he quickly converted into liquid as it struck him.

The green liquid splashed itself at the Shadow and pushed him to the ground. The liquid landed on the ground as it converted back to a solid Fluidman who glared at the Shadow like a battle scarred warrior that caught his second wind.

"I'm done running," Fluey then changed to his liquid form again and charged after the Shadow.

As the Shadow was about to get up, the liquid struck him again and continuously knocked him down from different directions. Fluey changed back to his solid form as he punched the Shadow in the face and knocked him down. After beating the Shadow repeatedly, Fluey noticed the lightning rod on the ground close by and ran towards it, but he tripped when he felt something grabbing him by the ankle. Fluey looked over his shoulder and noticed that the Shadow had one of his tentacles gotten hold of him.

The tentacle lifted Fluey up in the air and bashed him repeatedly against the ground. The tentacle lifted the boy up again as more tentacles emerged from the Shadow and began wiping him mercilessly. After receiving numerous lashes from the Shadow, Fluey was tossed over like a thrashed, bleeding rag doll and fell into the bushes where the lightning rod was hidden. The Shadow's red eyes gleamed with sadistic delight as went towards the bushes, he ripped them from the ground and realized that Fluey has vanished.

The Shadow didn't notice that behind him a green puddle slowly moving as far away as possible. When the green liquid found its way to a clearing, it transformed back to a teenage boy panting in both pain and exhaustion. Fluey was so weak from that vicious assault that it was even too stressful to stay in his fluid form. Still holding the lightning rod and covered in bruises and whip lashes, Fluey tried to get up on his feet until he was knocked from behind and fell back to the ground, face down.

Without even bothering to look over his shoulder, Fluey started crawling from his attacker, but was stopped when a black tentacle wrapped itself around his waist. As Fluey was trying to pull himself out of the tentacle's grasp, more tentacles went after him and wrapped themselves around his wrists and legs. The tentacles flipped Fluey over and began dragging him towards the Shadow.

"It's over little one. Your friends are gone and there's no one left to save you," said the Shadow, pulling Fluey closer to him. "Once I get rid of you, everyone else will face the same fate, but I assure you that your grandfather will suffer a far worse demise."

Fluey groaned and thrashed around as he tried to break free until he noticed he was being dragged closer to the lightning rod as well. Fluey attempted to stretch his hand out to grab the lightning rod.

"Your fate is inevitable. You will join your fallen friends in the eternal darkness and be mine now and forever."

"I . Don't. Belong to you. Anymore!" Fluey then grabbed the lightning rod, aimed it at the Shadow and pressed the button as the large ray of light was fired at him.

The Shadow's scream echoed throughout the forest as he was disintegrating within the light. After the powerful ray vanished, all was left of the Shadow was smoke. Fluey sighed in relief as he laid on his back with the lightning rod still in his hand. At the corner of his eye, Fluey noticed that the smoke started to change its form. Suddenly, the smoke started to grow arms and large, monstrous hands as a pair of red eyes instantly appeared. Fluey let out a cry as the creature went towards him with his hands stretched out until the smoke was mysteriously being pulled back.

Confused, Fluey sat up and saw a couple of hooded strangers, which one of them was holding a glass ball that was sucking the Shadow in and trapped him inside. The strangers then discarded their hoods to reveal two strangely clad men. One had green hair and was dressed like a wizard while the other one was dressed like a more intimidating undertaker.

"Our work here is done," said the wizard as he raised his other hand and a magenta colored portal appeared out of nowhere. As the two strangers were about to go through the portal, they stopped on their tracks when Fluey called out to them and went up to them.

"Wait! Why did you help me? Who are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, love," the wizard replied with a sly smirk and blew a kiss at Fluey. From that kiss, puff of magenta powder was blown at him and he suddenly fell on his knees as he started to lose consciousness.

"Happy birthday, cheeky baby," said the wizard before Fluey finally passed out and everything around him went black.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7

Fluey suddenly felt he was laying on something soft when he slowly gained his consciousness. Once Fluey opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in what seemed to be a hospital room and laying on a bed. The black haired boy looked around the room as he noticed his clothes were on a chair close by. The boy raised his arms up when he realized that the scars and bruises on him mysteriously disappeared. Fluey assumed the powder the bizarre wizard blew on him must have something to do with it.

The boy was too distracted to even notice that two figures just entered his room and went up to him.

"Fluey? You're okay?"

The boy's eyes widened when he heard that familiar voice and looked up to see Coiley and Multi, who was holding Skittles in his arm, looking back at him.

"Guys! I can't believe you fellas are still alive!" exclaimed Fluey as he hugged his friends, tightly.

"Neither did we," Multi replied.

"You think you can let go? Your hug is making it hard to breathe," gasped Coiley as he tried to unwrap Fluey's arm off of his neck.

"Sorry about that, man," said Fluey, after letting his friends go. Skittles then jumped on the boy's bed and started licking him. "Hey! Okay, okay. I'm happy to see you too, girl." Fluey scratched Skittles between her ears and gave her back to Multi.

"So how did you guys-you know, come back?"

"That's the thing, Fluey. We were never dead to begin with," said Coiley, scratching the back of his head.

"When we were merged inside the Shadow, we ended up in some kind of dimension. We were just floating around in that darkness, which felt like forever until we somehow got transported to the woods where we found you," Multi explained.

"Not only we made it back, but the Impossi-mobile made it back too. So, we called Big D, he and the agents arrived and we took you to the SSHQ's infirmary," Coiley added.

"All that because I defeated the Shadow? Wow. But, I wouldn't have pulled that off, if it wasn't for you, Multi."

"Me?"

"Yeah, man. You sacrificed yourself to help me escape and left me a clue on how to beat the Shadow. You said something about trying hard enough to make dreams come true. I used the lightning rod like I did with the branding iron from the nightmare I had when I was under Maldour's spell."

"Um-Yeah. The thing is I don't remember saying that stuff to you."

"What do you mean?"

"When the Shadow burst out the door, my mind went blank and the last thing I know I was in another room by myself and the Shadow came in."

"How did that happen?" asked Coiley.

"I don't know. All I know is that I started to feel strange when some kind of force came over me and then nothing," said Multi, scratching his head.

"Kinda sound like what Phyllis went through when she became possessed by Maldour," Fluey replied.

"Whatever it was, it's gone now, right?" asked Coiley.

"I hope so. I don't want to go through that again," said Multi.

Suddenly, the chief stepped inside the room as he was putting away a handkerchief in his coat pocket. Probably, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"How are you holding up, Agent Fluidman?" Big D asked, as he patted his grandson on the shoulder.

"Fine, chief. How 'bout you?" asked Fluey.

"Just fine. I would have come by sooner, but I was busy with the paperwork on the situation with the prison that the Shadow escaped from."

"Speaking of which, how did he escape from there?" asked Multi.

"That's what we were trying to figure out. Every security camera was destroyed and we had no live witnesses. The jailers, the warden and even the inmates were brutally slaughtered in that prison."

"And the Shadow did all that?" Fluey asked.

"Doubtful. My guess is someone from the outside must have broken the Shadow out. And whoever was responsible for those atrocities weren't the kind of criminals we're used to."

"I have a hunch those crooks might have something to do with the Shadow's new powers as well," Multi added.

"Yeah, but even with new powers, Fluey managed to destroy the Shadow all by himself," said Coiley.

"He's not gonna get in trouble for killing the Shadow, is he?" asked Multi.

"Well since the Shadow wasn't human at that time, I suppose I can take that as an exception," the chief replied.

"Yeah, about that. I-um-didn't exactly rub the Shadow out," said Fluey as he bit his bottom lip.

"What?" Big D replied.

"When I shot the laser at the Shadow, I thought he was gone for good until he came back to life. The Shadow was about to attack me, but he was sucked in by a crystal ball that belonged to those weird hooded guys."

"Was one of the hooded figures the same tall one we met at the old house?" asked Multi.

"Yeah, man. But there's another one with him."

"And you don't know what they look like?" asked the chief.

"They did take their hoods off, but they're not anyone we met before. The tall guy looked like a more freaky undertaker and the other guy looked like a wizard in green and magenta. Oh yeah and they had those weird accents."

"What kind of accent?"

"It's kind of British, probably Liverpudlian."

"Interesting." the chief replied as he was remembering the voice from the other line of the phone. That voice had a Liverpudlian accent also. Big D wasn't sure if it's important, but he decided not to mention about it.

"Just to be safe, I'll have to get Phyllis to gather some information on those odd characters. Anyway, Dr. Phelps told me that once you wake up, you're well enough to come home. I suggest you get dressed so we can get you home. The girls were worried sick about you, Fluid," said the chief. When Big D and the others were about to leave the room to Fluey some privacy, they heard a loud gasp and turned around to see the black haired boy's shocked face while grasping on to his chest.

"Fluey, what's wrong?" asked Multi.

Fluey looked down as he pulled his shirt collar down to reveal his once damaged chest, "The scar from the branding iron…It's gone."

After a couple of hours, Big D and the Impossibles went back to the Dawsons' house. Fluey was the first to go inside as he made his way to the dark lobby and turned the lights on.

"Surprise!" the girls exclaimed, and Fluey let out a yelp.

"Happy Birthday, buddy," said Coiley, coming up to Fluey.

"I know it seemed like a bad time for this after everything we went through, but we still wanted to throw you a party if that's alright with you," said Multi.

"I hope you don't mind, Fluey. You really do deserve this after beating the Shadow and all," said Danalleah, taking Fluey's hand.

Fluey looked down for a minute as he thought it over and shrugged with a smile, "Sure, what the heck. I think I deserve this too."

The gang cheered as Fluey was introduced to the birthday cake with the lit candles.

"Come on, Franky. Make a wish," FG responded, and Fluey blew out the candles without hesitation.

"What did you wish for?" asked Phyllis.

"Nothing. I already got what I wanted," said Fluey as his friends began cutting the cake. Fluey then took something out of his pocket and smiled looking at the old picture of himself with his adoptive parents.

"Hey, Fluey! Don't you want some cake?" asked Shawn.

"Yeah, sure. Just save a big piece for me," Fluey replied, as he put the picture back inside his pocket.

Big D's wrist communicator started beeping again and he slowly crept out of the lobby so not to draw any attention.

"This is Big D. What is it?"

"This is Agent Johnson. We just found out that the Maldour's crystal ball has been stolen."

"What? How?"

"We don't' know. All the security cameras were destroyed and the guards that were on duty were no where to be found."

"This can't be coincidence. Perhaps the strangers that Fluid was talking about was behind the Shadow's escape, after all. And probably his new powers as well." the chief thought.

"What should we do, chief?" asked the agent.

"We'll have to further investigation tomorrow. Until then, I just want to celebrate my grandson's birthday," Big D then turned his communicator off and went back to the lobby.


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

A white chess piece was being lifted by even whiter fingers as it was placed on one of the squares from the chessboard. The owner of those cold fingers was a young man in a blue derby hat, looking down at the pieces through the blue lenses of his glasses.

"So, how was your trip at that alternative universe, Hex Meister?" asked the owner of the white fingers.

"Quite fascinating, We even brought souvenirs from the other dimension," said the magenta wizard as he placed his black piece on a square.

"Do tell, Hexey," The pale man placed another piece on another square.

"Artillery collected some weapons and data from the Secret Security Headquarters. All I got is a crystal ball with a dark entity inside it."

"What'd you do with it?"

"No need to worry about him, Frosty. My little pet is quite secured on my shelf and won't ever come out until I say so," Hex Meister then placed another piece on another square.

"Any other mischief you committed over there, Hexey?"

"Nothing much. Just helped that sadistic criminal break out of prison, gave him super powers, helped the Impossibles defeat him by giving them a high-tech lightning rod and possessing Multiman to give Fluidman time to escape and strike the final blow on his most feared enemy, that's all."

"Right. Speaking of which, what you think about the other version of that cheeky love-interest of yours, hey?" Jax DeFrost moved one of his pieces to another square.

"The Fluidman that I've come to know is a dish, but I had to admit his counterpart has more…alluring features," Hex Meister replied.

"Does he now?" Jax replied, eagerly as he crossed his legs and laid his chin on his hands as he placed his elbows on his knees.

"The alternative Fluidman has quite a history. Lost both biological and foster parents from tragic deaths, went through so much trauma that would overwhelm a man. And yet he still managed to stay sane and clean. The lad is quite a fighter," sighed Hex Meister with a wickedly adoring smile as he thought about the dark-haired teenager.

"Careful, love. Your sin is purging," Jax grinned, noticing the expression on his companion's face, "You think he's is more worthy than our Fluidman?"

"Hard to say. I'll just have to keep an eye on both of my raven-haired beauties until I can figure out which is more suitable to fulfill my…sensual needs." Hex then moved one of his pieces to another square.

"So you'll be paying little Franky more visits then?" Jax asked as he moved his piece to another square.

"I might. But, I'll leave him be just long enough to get him to let his guard down. Once my lovely imp becomes quite certain of himself, that's when I'll come after him," Hex then moved his piece to another square.

Jax DeFrost fell into deep thought as he paused for a minute and his smile slowly grew wider. "You know, Hexey. We've been neglecting our quarries for too long. What do you say we make our first American debut and pay them a visit, hey?"

"Don't see why not."

"Then it's settled. I'm looking forward to see the look on their faces when they meet up with us again," Jax replied, and moved his piece towards his opponent's piece and removed it from the board.

"Your turn."

The End


End file.
